warriorcatswworldfandomcom-20200214-history
Echoes of the War - George Weasley
|George Weasley lost more than any other participant of the Second Wizarding War...He lost his best friend, partner in crime, his Twin brother, Fred Weasley. George will never get over the loss of his Twin, but he must continue on with his life; without the one who has always been there with him.}} Chapter one George collapsed next to his Twin's dead body, pale and cold, and cried tears of the absolute sorrow. Fred had died in an explosion, and his battered body showed it. George put his hand on his Twin's unmoving chest. The stillness scared him, but he left his hand there and continued to cry.His family stood around him, except Ron, who was on the other side of Fred, crying into his mother's shoulder. He had never felt so alone in his life. Actually, he had never felt alone, his Twin was always with him, through everything that they had done. Why did Fred have to die? Why did he have to be in the explosion? The tears were coming on more fierce than ever.He looked up and saw Percy crouched over him, patting his shoulder, tears streaming from his blue eyes. George felt the sorrow and grief become replaced by anger and hatred for Percy. He stood up and pulled out his wand and held it to Percy's throat. "Why didn't you help him?" He yelled at his brother, "Why didn't you help him?" Percy whimpered and George felt his breathing get faster and heavier. "George, what the hell are you doing? Leave Percy alone!" He heard his mother's voice as Bill ran up behind George and pulled him back. "It was you! You freaking prat! You could've helped him!" George howled. "You were right next to him when the explosion went off, and you didn't try to help him!" Bill had pulled him away from Percy and he turned him around to face him. He placed his hand on his younger brother's shoulder and Bill led him out of the Great Hall.When they had got away from the Great Hall; away from George's sobbing friends, Bill turned to face George. "George, you can't blame Percy for Fred dying." He said, his voice cracking with grief. "It wasn't Percy, Percy couldn't have helped Fred."George felt more anger flow through him. He'd never felt so much hatred for his own family members. His head started to spin, and he blacked out."George! George!"He heard Bill call his name, then everything went silent. Chapter two "We can't lose both of them!" George heard Bill's voice again as he woke. His head still hurt, and his head was painful where his ear should've been before it was zapped off in he flight over Little Whinging. He groaned and sat up, but as soon as he did his mother came to his side and pushed him back down gently. He looked up and saw relief spread over Bill's face. His face was stained with tears and he saw Fleur tighty holding onto her husbands arm. "I told you 'e'd be okay!" Fleur told him. "How could you theenk that you killed 'im?" Bill looked at her. "Well, he just collapsed and it scared me, Fleur." She smiled at him and leaned down to George, "Are you okay?" She asked with a worried tone in her voice. "I think, but my head hurts like hell." George said rubbing his head. Fleur nodded, stood up and called, "Madam Pomfrey! George 'as an 'eadache from 'is ear!" "Okay, I'll be right there!" Came Madam Pomfrey's voice from somewhere George couldn't see. Bill knelled next to Geroge, a black expression still on his face. "I thought you'd died...What happened?" Bill's fear showed in his eyes, though he was trying hard to hide it. Bill laid his hand on George's shoulder as he'd done earlier. George didn't know how to explain what'd he'd felt before he'd blacked out...he'd felt angry, at Percy, for not helping Fred. He saw Percy standing alone in a corner of the Great Hall, staring at his feet. "Well...I was just so angry at Percy for not helping Fre-" He was cut off when Bill held up his other hand. "Percy couldn't have helped Fred, don't you remember what I said earlier?" George remembered, but he refused to believe it. George sat up, just as Madam Pomfrey came bustling over with some medicine the George didn't know in her hand. "Drink it; it'll make your head feel better." She gave the medicine to George and he drank it up; it tasted absolutely dreadful. He pulled a faced as it hit his tongue and he heard Bill laugh. "Come on, George, Bill. We're going to take Fred back to The Burrow." Molly said with utmost grief in her voice, "Harry and Hermione are going to help." George stood up and walked on shaky legs to where his brother lay, covered by a Gryffindore blanket. Percy had come over to help, but he still had a look of grief and sadness on his face, mixed with fear. George took a place up by Fred's head, and he, Bill, Percy, Arthur, Harry, Hermione and Ron heaved up his body. Carrying Fred's body out to the Hogwarts courtyard was hard for George...he couldn't help himself from bursting into tears again as Hermione disapparated; taking Fred with her. Bill and Fleur wrapped their arms around him."It'll be okay, George." Fleur whispered into his ear.When everybody except himself had apparated back to The Burrow, George turned and faced Hogwarts. He sighed. "Fred...I miss you already." He whispered as he apparated to The Burrow. Chapter three His emotions all flew out of him when he saw Fred's body with the blanket removed. His skin was cold and so very pale...George couldn't help himself from falling to his knees beside the couch where his brother lay and cried. He held his brother's cold hand. "Who's going to help me run the shop?" George's words were almost drowned out with tears. Molly came up and hugged her son tight. She was trying to hide her emotions from him, but she cried into his bright orange hair. Percy wasn't there. Hmph! His brother is dead! Why isn't he here? But then he caught sight of Percy, lingering in the corner of the room and if he was crying, George couldn't tell. Harry, Ron and Hermione sat next to him, Hermione was patting George's back as he cried and Harry was comforting Ron as he sat beside the couch crying. Ginny was clutched tight in her father's arm, crying into his chest while Fleur patted her back. Bill was comforting their mother as she cried. George couldn't take being there anymore. He stood up and ran to his bedroom; his and Fred's bedroom; before his Twin was killed. He walked in, tears still streaming down his face and slammed the door shut. He jumped onto his bed and cried into his pillow. He fell asleep; and when he did, he dreamed that he and Fred were working in the shop; after the battle. He and Fred were showing first years the Puking Pastilles, and showing fifth years the love potions.He woke with a start. He expected Fred to appear in front of him any minute...but he didn't...and George was reminded of what had happened the day before at Hogwarts. His mother had obviously been in; blankets were draped over him and warm soup was beside his bed on the table. He sighed and sat up. He drank the soup; it was delicious, it reminded him of the thousands of times he had drank this soup with Fred. He would return to work today; though it wouldn't be much of a joy...without Fred. He looked at the calender that was hung up on the wall beside him. Tomorrow would be the first of September, and today, lots of Hogwarts students would want to buy items to use on their friends and foes at school. He got up and dressed into the clothes he always wore when working at Weasley Wizard Wheezes and he left the room. Perhaps we should have a sale today...to honor Fred. The idea floated around in his head til he finally decided that he would give 50% off all of the products at the joke shop today."Good morning, George." His mother walked over and hugged him. "Are you going to the shop today?" She asked. He nodded and walked over to sit in his chair; the chair he always sat it, no one sat next to him, his brother was gone now, so the chair next to him would be empty forever. He didn't speak; even when Fleur asked if she could go help out with the shop. He just nodded. Bill said he'd come along too, but George just nodded again. "Well, we better be off before the line ups to the shop get too long." Bill said, finally breaking the long silence. George nodded again, as he stood up, Bill and Fleur did the same and said goodbye to the family members still sitting at the table. As he had expected; Percy was still reading The Daily Prophet, but as they left the house, his eyes left the paper and he nodded farewell to George, Bill and Fleur. "We're going to have a sale at the shop today." George told Bill and Fleur. "50% off every item...for Fred." He broke off as he mentioned his brother's name and a few tears rolled down his cheek. They nodded as each of them apparated to Diagon Alley. Chapter four Weasley Wizard Wheezes stood tall and proud at the end of a lane of shops. "Alohomora" George said, pointing at the lock. He walked into the shop, Bill and Fleur followed staring in awe at the array of jokes, candies and the Umbridge on a unicycle that wheeled around on the second floor. It was chattering it's usual words, "I will have ORDER! I really hate children..." He smiled, and followed Bill and Fleur around the shop. Once they'd had a good look at everything, George hung up a sign, saying everything at the shop today was half-price...then the reason why...The sign broke his heart to write, so Bill did it for him as Fleur lead George over to the counter and let him have a little cry into her shoulder.As children arrived to visit the shop; they stared at the sign, reading that everything was 50% off made their faces light up...but when they read the part: "To honor the late Fred Weasley," Their faces turned into pools of sadness. They don't know what it's like for me... George thought, as the Hogwarts students came in crowds to look at the sign. "You should make a little tribute in the store." Fleur suggested. "Make on of the corners in the shop a little memorial for Fred." George shook his head. "I'll put it beside he door." Georg whispered as he walked over to the door that lead to the apartment in which the Twins lived in when they were working. He collected all the photos of Fred there was, most of which were them together, laughing as they set of fireworks, or laughing at a second year who had eaten a U-NO-POO without knowing what it was. He decided to put the largest at the foot of the memorial, a picture of him and Fred in their third year with their Beater's bats. He walked out of the apartment and walked back into the shop...children were lined up, eagerly waiting to get inside. He put a small table beside the door of the shop and covered it with a Gryffindore blanket. He placed the photos, in frames, on the table and sat the picture of him and Fred in their Quidditch attire at the front. He opened the door to let in the customers...each looked at him sympathetically and occasionally a first year would come and hug him. Each of the students went over and looked silently over Fred's memorial. Some people had began crying...George felt even sadder then he had before he'd opened up the shop for the day. They don't know half of what I'm feeling... George thought. Chapter five George lay on his bed on his back. A voice seemed to be calling to him; calling his name; saying he was loved; that he wasn't alone. The voice made George cry again. He sat up and went downstairs to where Fred's body lay on the couch draped by a blanket. A cold white head hung out of the blanket. It was as white as snow and cold as ice to touch. Fred's funeral had been scheduled for the next day, in the Weasley family cemetery. It would be the last time George would ever see his brother. Ever. Ron walked into the room. His expression was blank and he stared at the floor as he sat in a chair across from where George sat on the couch where his brother was. George could see Ron had been crying. His eyes were bright red and tear stains covered his freckly cheeks."You okay, mate?" George said quietly. Ron shook his head."With Fred gone...we aren't really the Weasley's...it's not the same...without him." Ron had started to tear up again, and George walked over and hugged his younger brother. "I promise the rest of the family will stay safe. I swear on my life that I'll keep as all safe, even if it kills me." George swore to his brother. "I'll never break this promise, Ron, never." He took his arms off from around Ron and put his hands on Ron's shoulder. "You've faced Voldemort plenty of times; you raiding Bellatrix Lestrange's vault and lived; you protected hundreds of people from being killed so many times. Be strong for Fred...It's- it's what he would want." George felt tears begin to roll down his face again. He was trying to reassure himself as well as Ron. He felt sure he'd helped Ron, but he still felt full of grief for his lost brother. There was a hole in George's heart...and it could never be able to be filled. Chapter six The next day, George woke and got dressed into black robes and walked downstairs. The house was empty. His brother's body had been moved. No one was in the house except him, and possibly the cat. It was so quiet. dauntingly quiet. Everyone was outside, he could hear chattering along with wails of grief and sorrow.He saw Ginny walk in from the corner of his eye. She was wearing the same dress she had worn at Bill and Fleur's wedding."They're all waiting for you. Angelina Johnson wants to see you, too." Ginny said in a voice which made her sound as if she'd been crying. He nodded and walked out to the cemetery. Everyone went silent and turned to George when he walked around the graves to his mother who wrapped her arms around him tight as he did so too as he cried into her shoulder and she patted her back. "It wasn't supposed to be him!" George wailed, all his grief for Fred returning more fiercely than ever. "He was supposed to live and see the end of the war!" His mother gently patted his back as he cried. She sat him down and left him alone. He could feel Bill and Fleur looking at him, faces full of tears not only for Fred, but for George, too. Fleur walked over to where George was sitting and sat beside him. Bill did the same on George's other side. they both attempted to comfort George with soothing words, but nothing worked; nothing would. George had lost his brother and his best friend.The ceremony began, and Bill and Fleur had managed to get George to stop crying for the ceremony.George couldn't hear what the priest was saying...he was caught up in his own thoughts, he thought about being at the shop with Fred....running the shop together til they were old. But as the vision went on his head, he noticed Fred fading...fading til he was just the faintest outline; til he was completely gone. George looked lost and alone. George snapped out of the vision as everyone stood. "George...would you like to say something?" His mother asked. He nodded and walked up to the front of the crowd."F-first I'd like to say...that Fred still loves us...he's watching over us, being our guardians and he's wishing he could be here so we wouldn't have to mourn him." George began. "Fred may be gone physically, but he's still here, his spirit lives on. He's standing here right now, he's watching over us, waiting to warn us if something bad's going to happen" He looked up. What he saw shocked the absolute hell out of him. Standing; at the back of the crowd; transparent and almost invisible...was Fred. He was almost crying, George could see. His face had a look of absolute sadness over it. The spirit walked toward George, but it vanished..."George?" He heard a whisper from teh crowd which snapped him back to reality."Oh, um, yeah, Fred's still here, he's here." He pointed at his chest. "We'll never be able to see him or touch him, but he's there, always." He walked down from the front and sat back in his seat beside Bill and Fleur. "That was beautiful, George." Came a familiar voice. He spun around and behind them, sitting tall and crying, was Fred's girlfriend; Angelina Johnson. Chapter seven "We'll talk after the ceremony." She whispered. George watched the rest of the ceremony. He'd been asked to take the coffin for burial. He helped his father, Ron, Bill and Charlie haul the coffin to a grave with a new stone in front of it. it read: 'Here lies the honorable Fred Weasley. April 1st, 1978 ~ May 2nd 1998 Loved dearly; cherished family member; worlds greatest joker.~May he rest in Peace~.' George burst into tears again. Bill helped him sit down and tried to comfort his younger brother. But he couldn't; George was saying goodbye to his Twin, forever. Bill didn't understand how much pain George was in. His tears streamed down his face like an endless river. Bill's arm was still around George's shoulder when he looked up. The scars on Bill's face shined in the sun. He's been crying too... George thought. He watched as Fred's coffin was lowered into the grave and buried. More tears fell as the grave was filled."Goodbye, Fred." George murmured through tears. Bill was still patting his shoulder, trying his best to confornt George; but it didn't work, George was still crying...His pain would never end. "George, don't you remember what you said at the ceremony. Fred is still with us. You told us yourself." Bill's words meant nothing to George; they didn't help him at all. They just made him cry even harder. The thought of Fred's spirit being with him everywhere, but not able to be seen, touched or heard, made George angry. He wanted to see his brother, be able to speak with him. But that wouldn't happen until George was dead. Chapter eight Credit to Paddie on the Warriors Wiki for some of this chapter! Once George had felt better, he and Bill walked back to where everyone was gathering round comforting each other or talking to each other. He walked over to where Katie Bell, Lee Jordan and Alicia Spinnet were standing around a crying Angelina Johnson."Ange, you said we'd talk after-" George started, but was squickly interrupted by Katie. "Leave her for now. She's been having hard times..." Katie said quietly. She then returned to trying to sooth Angelina, and George watched, feeling more tears well in his eyes. He had to be storng: for his freinds, family, for Fred, infact. He knew that what he was doing now wasn't what Fred wouldv'e wanted, but it hurt so much, it was unexplainable. He turned and walked to where Harry and Hermione were crouched around Ron, who was crying.George walked up behind Ron and patted his shoulder. "It's okay, mate." He whispered in his ear. "Fred's still here." Ron's crying only seem to become more sorrowful at George's words. Perhaps it was the wrong thing to say...but Ron looked up at George with eyes red and running, stood and hugged George tight. His little brother cried into his chest. Distorted words came out, like, "Why?" and "I miss him!" occassionally. I've been saying the same things to myself, George thought as his younger brother's tears soaked his suit.George helped Ron sit back down again. He sat in a chair next to Ron and watched his brother cry while George patted his back. George paused, and then said gently, "Come on, Ron...you know Fred. Crying was never his style. He'd want you to smile." he grinned weakly. Ron nodded"I know...but...Fred...He deserved a few tears." George thought back to moment he knew of Fred's death. He had known it before he was told. He felt a stabbing pain, one he couldn't explain. And that's when he knew. He and Fred had always joked that if one died before the other, that part of them would die too. But, he never really believed it. Not until it had happened, of course.George felt tears well in his eyes. Hermione must have seen the first tear fall, because she gave him a look of sympathy and sorrow. Geroge stopped patting Ron's back, stood and ran to the back of the house, tears making streams down his face. It was too hard, watching Ron cry, without feeling himself fall apart inside. His heart felt as though it was beating at a mile a minutes as he ran up stairs, opened the door to his room and slammed it shut before sitting on the bed and breaking down. Chapter nine George fell asleep that night with face stained with tears. His dreams were dark and frightening, showing pictures of himself when Fred had died. They showed his Twins cold, pale body before they'd had the funeral; but one image scared him the most... Battered bodies lay around him in a dark, cold room. Each had a head full of bright orange hair...stained with blood. When George looked at them closely, he knew then the bodies when those of his siblings. Bill lay nearest to George, the scars on his face reopened and eyes open in a scary sort of way. Charlie was towards George's left, scratches criss-crossed over his face and arms and bruises around his eyes. Percy was to George's right, face stained with blood and scratches up his arms and parts of his clothes were torn. Ron was slumped against the wall to George's right, with what seemed to be a huge bite in his neck. Ginny was laying, face down, in the center of the room with the same injuries as Ron's. ''They can't be dead! They can't be! '' George thought. He starred at the bodies; none of them were breathing...George's eyes filled with tears once more as he collopsed and started to cry. He knew it was a dream, but he couldn't help but feel that he'd failed as a brother...he felt as if that...that Fred's death was his fault... "I'm sorry, Fred!" He wailed. "It was my fault!" George felt himself be shaked, shaked hard before he heard a voice... "George! George, wake !" He opened his eyes to his bedroom. George was dripping wet with cold sweet, and his throat hurt. He turned his head to look at the clock beside his bed, but instead saw Bill, standing beside his bed, looking at George with a look of curiousity and fright. "What the hell happened?" Bill said. "You were screaming like a banshee with a headache!" George was still shaking, the memory of the dream bouncing around in his head. "Nightmare." George panted, his eyes wide open in terror. Bill was still staarring at George, his breathing deep. He must have run from his room into George's. "Well, it must've been pretty bad, you were screaming like there was no tomorrow, something about it being all your fault or something." George knew what Bill was talking about. He knew he was wailing in the dream... George felt the bed take another's weight as Bill sat next to George and put his arm on George's shoulder. "Tell me, George." He said simply. "It was something about Fred, wasn't it?" George nodded, but didn't speak until he heaved a huge sigh. "I was standing in this giant, dark room, with a few torches on the wall, and all over the ground were...were dead people." George said, shakily. "Th-they were all you guys, you, Charlie, Percy, Ron and Ginny. You were all bloody...and...and I felt that I'd done something that'd made someone kill you and-a-and-" George burst into tears, the memories of the battered bodies threatening to take him over.Bill tightened his grip on George's arm, "...and?" "And, I felt like I'd made Fred die!" George sobbed as he launched forward and buried his face in his hands. "I miss him! I want him back!" He yelled into his quickly dampening hands. Bill moved from where he sat next to George to sit in front of him. He grasped George's shoulder and he felt Bill jump a bit. He must of only just realized how thin George was getting, Bill must have only just noticed George hadn't eaten since the morning before he and Fleur had helped George at the shop. "George, I really think that you should try and get on with your life without Fred," Bill whispered, just audible over George's loud sobs. "He'd feel horrible seeing you like this. Look at you," He said. George raised his head, tears still streaming down his face. "You're thinner than a twig, your eyes are black and your face is covered in tear marks." Bill looked straight into George's eyes, as he stood and walked out of the room and presuambly back to his and Fleur's room. George was shaking, not just because of the cold of his room. He knew how think he was getting, but he didn't want to eat. He knew was tired, but he didn't want to sleep. He knew he should stop crying and get on with his life, but he couldn't. All he wanted was Fred, to be alive and joking like they used to before the War. It wouldn't happen ever again. At this thought George's eyes welled with even more tears. "It'd not fair..." He sobbed as he lay back down, buried his head in his pillow, and gradually fell asleep. Category:Echoes of the War